


At times

by gyuniversewoo



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Flash Fic, How did I manage to make it exactly 1000 words?, Implied Character Death, Kidult is my fav Henggarae song, M/M, Melancholy, MinWon - Freeform, My first Flash Fic, kidult, meanie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:07:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25987933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gyuniversewoo/pseuds/gyuniversewoo
Summary: It’s Wonwoo’s birthday and he’s spending it alone in the park.
Relationships: Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu
Comments: 5
Kudos: 19
Collections: Challenge 1: Kidult





	At times

_It’s okay to waste time._

Wonwoo stared at the green ink on the back of the incomplete photograph. How come he never noticed it before? 

Maybe it was because he only focused on Mingyu who was smearing cake onto Wonwoo’s cheek.

“You can’t have funfetti sprinkles ‘cause you’re 20 now. Chocolate shavings are sophisticated.” Mingyu declared.

“You’re right, nothing says sophistication like shaving.” Wonwoo waved around the green balloon that decorated his wrist.

Mingyu acted like a kid in a grown man’s body. The only thing that set him apart from child Mingyu was his daily routine to shave.

“You’ll need this eventually.” Mingyu cackled and shoved the ribbon adorned razor into Wonwoo’s hand. He liked to poke fun since Wonwoo’s chin remained hairless. 

“How can you be so carefree all the time?” Wonwoo asked later that night when they left.

“I don’t think I’m carefree.” Mingyu responded and jumped on top of the concrete wall that separated the park from the dangerous street. “I’d say I’m worry-free.” He finished off his lime ring pop.

“Yeah,” Wonwoo pointed to his forehead. “But you don’t have wrinkles from stressing over exam scores.” His ring pop was grape, a flavor he only liked when Mingyu got it for him.

Mingyu walked with his arms out. “Hey, I have wrinkles!” He poked the spot on his cheek with the plastic remains of the ring.

“Yeah, from laughing.”

“You just don’t know when to laugh things off.” Mingyu must have jinxed himself because his attempt at a glorious jump off the wall ended badly.

“How are you laughing through this?” Wonwoo hooked his arm under Mingyu. The younger kept giggling at Wonwoo’s prior shriek of fear.

“Because karma is real.” He winced every step but the grin on his face remained. 

“And what is karma telling you?”

“That stealing those ring pops were only worth it because I got to see you smile.”

Wonwoo chuckled to himself and flipped the picture back over. 

It always bothered him that a chunk of paper was cut off right where Mingyu placed the shaver down before painting Wonwoo in cake. 

“Hey, wanna go waste time?” Mingyu always asked.

Wonwoo checked his radio clock and figured since it was past midnight that now was an appropriate time.

At the entrance to the park, Wonwoo stopped to tie the balloon to the pole, careful not to step on the flowers.

The park was vacant and one of the lampposts kept flickering off. Yet in the dark, Wonwoo still found the picnic table.

He sat down and pulled out the photograph again as if it provided answers.

“I’m telling you, staying one night won’t hurt, it’s your birthday.” 

“If I go with you, my paper won't get done. If I fail I wasted my tuition which is also my father's money. I can’t keep mooching off him. What if-?”

A pair of soft lips slotted against his own, effectively shutting him up. 

“Take a look in the mirror for once, Woo. I think that guy is who you should aim to please.”

_Not your father_.

Wonwoo’s cheeks flushed. “I can’t live like a kid forever, Gyu.”

“You’re not, you’re living like a _kidult_. There’s a difference.” The moon reflected in his eyes and off the paper party hat he still wore.

“Which is?”

“Someone who is stuck. And being stuck frustrates them but they continue to move forward because they hope they will eventually become unstuck.” He pressed his face into Wonwoo’s exposed collarbone, leaving the ghost of a kiss, then let go. “I am a prime example.”

“Yes, you are.”

The crosswalk light turned green and Mingyu forged ahead, despite his injured ankle. He took a look back at Wonwoo. “And maybe you should live a little! We can keep wasting time together.”

Wonwoo could hear the horn before he got the chance to blink.

He could hear himself scream.

He could see the smile fall from Mingyu’s face.

He could feel the balloon slip free from his outstretched wrist.

Wonwoo shifted his leg and his knee came across something cold under the table, bringing him back to the present. He reached under and discovered a circular object taped to the wood.

On the cover, in familiar ink, were the words:

_Just as you are_

Wonwoo smiled down at the shiny disk. He opened it and was too surprised by his own face to notice that something fluttered down out of the compact mirror. 

Written on the top half was the rest of the sentence.

_right now._

He watched the reflection of a tear escape his eye.

Wonwoo set the mirror aside next to the other piece of metal attached to the table. He picked up the scrap of paper that threatened to disappear into the night. 

After examining it, he pulled out his own pen. It was hard to write on the table’s new shiny surface but he managed to do so without smearing his words.

Wonwoo took the tape from the lost but now found birthday present and used it to piece together the photograph, which was difficult since the tape was a year old.

Mingyu was never a waste of time to Wonwoo, even when his father told him it was pointless to spend time with a boy who laughed at everything-and to keep remembering him. Only Mingyu knew how to waste time and still made it count.

Wonwoo’s fingers brushed over the words on the back of the newly attached photograph piece.

_Even if it’s tough just remember it only happens when the picture says._

  
  
  


“Minghao, hyung! Someone wrote all over Mingyu hyung!”

“Chan, that isn’t Mingyu. That’s just where Wonwoo put his plaque.” Minghao approached the table, set down his bouquet, and squinted as the sun danced off the shiny sign. New words in purple were scrawled on the plaque. 

In Loving Memory of 

Kim Mingyu 

_A kidult who laughed it off and taught me that it was okay to waste time._

_At times._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I really appreciate you taking the time to do so T_T
> 
> I've never written flash fiction before, or joined a writing challenge such as this so it was such a fun experience (despite my rather melancholy story). I enjoyed it and it made me want to write more (so please yell at me to write my current fic haha).


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